Ain't no mountain high enough for Alberta couple who tied knot on snowy peak
Bride changed into her wedding dress ‘in the bushes’
Everyone wants their wedding day to be special.
But how about sweaty?
That's how 27 guests were feeling after hiking three hours up a snowy mountain earlier this month to attend a wedding ceremony in Canmore, Alta.
The bride and groom chose to make if official at the helicopter pad on the Lady MacDonald trail.
"Being that my last name is MacDonald … it was appropriate that we would get married on top of it," said Jim MacDonald.
But before his new wife, Anna Rybialek, officially became Lady MacDonald — the pair decided to squeeze in an extra workout.
The Lethbridge couple began hiking a couple hours ahead of their guests so they could take in a view of the mountain summit — 1.5 kilometres uphill from the site of their ceremony.
"We timed it as such that, as we were descending from the summit, we actually met our guests at the helicopter pad. So that's where we actually held our ceremony," MacDonald told the Calgary Eyeopener.
Rybialek hiked both ways in a shorter, alternative wedding dress, making a quick wardrobe change when she reached the summit.
"Actually, I packed up my big, big, big dress, and then we changed in the bushes and we met our guests."
She admits that some of her guests thought they were "crazy" to get married at such a remote location, but they all managed to make it to the top "huffing and puffing."
"We had multiple people actually tell us that it was probably one of the most kick-ass weddings they'd ever been to ... unique and stress-free," said MacDonald.
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener